Evaluation of Food Homogenates on Cell Survival In Vitro

Area of Science:

• Food safety and virology
• Cell culture and infectivity assays
• Hepatitis E virus (HEV) research

Background:

• Assessing Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infectivity in food necessitates robust methods, ideally cell culture-based.
• Low viral loads in food require methods that maximize detection potential with minimal sample processing.
• Cytotoxicity of food homogenates to susceptible cell lines is a critical factor for developing reliable infectivity assays.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the cytotoxic effects of food homogenates on HEV-susceptible cell lines (A549, PLC/PRF/5, HepG2).
• To identify the most suitable cell line for developing a simple, robust, and reproducible HEV infectivity culture method.
• To determine optimal contact time between food homogenates and cells to maximize HEV detection.

Main Methods:

• Selected food matrices with detectable HEV nucleic acid for analysis.
• Assessed the effect of food homogenates on the survival percentage of A549, PLC/PRF/5, and HepG2 cell lines.
• Compared cell viability and robustness across different cell lines when exposed to food homogenates.

Main Results:

• Food homogenates exhibited varying cytotoxic effects on the tested cell lines in vitro.
• A549 cells demonstrated the highest robustness over time compared to HepG2 and PLC/PRF/5 cells.
• PLC/PRF/5 cells were found to be the most sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of food homogenates.

Conclusions:

• A549 cells are a suitable and robust cell line for HEV infectivity assays using food homogenates.
• Food homogenates can be co-cultured with A549 cells for up to 72 hours to enhance HEV detection.
• Direct use of food homogenates in cell culture minimizes viral loss associated with extensive processing, improving assay sensitivity.